Come Save Me
by DaLizzie
Summary: FINISHED Eventually, you come to a place where you your will begins to cave in and your strength starts to give out. Won't somebody come save me, please? PG13 for yaoi and child abuse
1. Tearful Prayers

A/N: Um, this is a kind of random thing that I, once again, came up with while lying in bed sometime between eleven at night and two in the morning. Not good for my school schedule, but who cares about that anyway. I know I said that I was going to do that fic with Ryou and Bakura, and I will, but this decided to pop up first, so I thought I'd post it and see what ya'll thought. This first chapter is really short, but it's the only part of the fic that I've written so far that I've deemed satisfactory to be posted, so hopefully I'll get off my lazy butt and edit the rest. Please review!

Disclaimer: YuGiOh is not mine! I don't own Yugi or his yami! I don't like it very much, but that's the way it is!

Come Save Me

Chapter 1

Yugi just barely ducked as a punch was thrown at him, and he tried to scramble away, but a second caught him in the stomach and he doubled over, gasping. The hard fist then came up to meet his face, sending him stumbling backwards with a bloody nose. He could feel a bruise beginning to form on his cheek where he had been hit earlier.

"I'll teach you, you lil' runt," a man twice Yugi's size slurred as he raised his fist. Yugi threw his arms up to shield his face, backing up against the wall. The man suddenly stopped in mid-punch. He looked dazed for a few moments, hiccupped, then lurched forward and fell to the floor. After a few moments of tense silence, snoring could be heard.

Yugi dared to open one of his tightly-closed eyes to see why the punch had never come, then sank to his knees, an inaudible sigh of relief escaping him. He had gotten off relatively easy that time; the only plus about the man being drunk was that he was known to spontaneously black out.

Picking himself up, Yugi carefully edged around his uncle's still form, then limped upstairs and into the bathroom. As he did, he cursed himself mentally for not being more careful. Every night Yugi was supposed to make dinner, but that night he had been daydreaming and let the food burn. His uncle had been furious, not to mention drunk, and had once again found a reason to beat the teenager as he did almost every night.

The boy winced visibly as he looked at himself in the mirror. An enormous bruise was forming on his right cheek and partially dried blood was smeared across most of his face. Yugi sighed as he washed his face off and tried to think up an excuse for the bruise that he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to cover up completely. He came into school with bruises all the time, and his teachers were all worried about him, but Yugi never said anything about the abuse he suffered from his uncle. No one would believe him, Yugi always told himself, and then he would only get in more trouble.

He tiredly turned off the water, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts. He still had homework to do, but all he wanted to do at that moment was sleep. He sighed, feeling exhausted, and in the back of his mind knowing that it was an exhaustion that sleep couldn't cure.

As he crept back to his room, Yugi checked downstairs to make sure that his uncle was still out cold, then opened and shut his door as quietly as he could. He didn't want that man to wake up anytime soon.

After trying at his math homework for all of twenty minutes, and not getting very far, Yugi sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I hate math," he said absently, twirling his pencil around with his fingers. "It's so boring."

Giving up, the violet-eyed boy stuffed his half-done homework into his book bag, turned out the light, and crawled into bed, too tired to change his clothes. He didn't fall asleep instantly as he would have preferred, though. The same thing always happened when he was alone with his thoughts; he no longer had anything to distract him from the pain buried inside of him.

Complete hopelessness engulfed him, the sense that tomorrow would be exactly the same overwhelming him. He had these feelings all the time anymore, not just at night when his mind had nothing to occupy it. He became frightened as he lay alone in bed, a deep ache welling up inside of him that had been growing stronger and stronger as his life went on.

Tears began to course down his face. The small boy curled up under the covers, hugging the pillow tightly, and cried. He hated his life. He hated the man that had made his life so horrible, and hated the fact that he was never brave enough to do anything about it. He hated himself for always being so weak, just like his uncle said he was. But, more than anything, he hated always being alone. He was always, always alone.

Yugi hiccuped softly, staring out into the darkness of his room. "Please," he said to the blackness, starting the prayer that he said every night. "Please, someone, anyone," a soft sob escaped his lips, but he went on, "Please come save me."

A/N: Yeah, nice and angst-y-ish… something like that. Anyways, please review!


	2. School Project

A/N: Sheesh, I'm updating slow. School has been slamming it down hard, but hopefully I'll get some stuff done this weekend. Anyways, on to the next chapter!

Come Save Me

Chapter 2

Yugi's tear-sticky eyes opened as the annoying beep of his alarm clock filled the room. After reaching out from under the covers to smack it with his fist, thus turning it off, he rolled over to get a few more minutes of sleep. When he looked at the clock again, it was fifteen minutes before school started.

Trying to keep himself from cursing out loud, Yugi leapt out of bed, threw some clean clothes on, grabbed his book bag, and dashed downstairs. His uncle was still snoring on the living room floor, and the violet-eyed boy crept around him as quietly as he could. After getting an apple from the kitchen, Yugi was out the door and down the street.

He just barely made it to class before the bell rang, and slid into his seat at the back of the room as inconspicuously as possible. It was only then that he remembered his math homework, and he began frantically scribbling down half-wrong answers, hoping that it would at least look like he had worked on it.

His attention was taken away from algebraic formulas as he glanced towards the corner of the room that usually had his attention during that class. He sat in that corner, in the back of the room just opposite of Yugi, with a constantly bored look on his face.

Yami was the loner of the school, as well as the constant subject of rumors and gossip that circulated the halls, and it always seemed that he couldn't care less. Yugi had heard the rumors, of course, and the oldest one was that one kid had tried to talk to him, and Yami had beat the kid up so badly that he had to go to the hospital.

Another one was that, even though Yami was a junior like Yugi, he was actually nineteen because he had flunked almost all of his freshman year classes and had been suspended so much that he had to be held back that year.

Yugi wasn't sure if all of these rumors were true, but he did know that, when Yami thought that no one was looking, a sad look would come over his face. Other times, he would be watching groups of friends talking and laughing together with a somewhat wistful look.

Yugi suspected that his secret obsession was more than he appeared to be, but he had never even screwed up the courage to talk to Yami in the two years that he had known him. They had always been in the same classes together, which had given Yugi plenty of chances, but he was afraid that his mouth would stop working on him or he would say something that he really didn't want to.

To tell the truth, Yugi had admitted to himself some months before that he had somehow or another developed a huge crush on tall, silent, and utterly gorgeous. Yugi had figured out that he liked guys sometime before that, and was pretty sure that it was okay as long as his uncle didn't find out. But, his adoration was completely in vain for as long as Yami didn't even know that he existed.

The boy's thoughts were cut short as a small, gray-haired woman entered the class demanding that all of last night's homework was to be passed in. Yugi nearly panicked, but managed to scribble down a few more answers before the teacher came to him to collect it.

She frowned down at the somewhat sloppy paper, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. To Yugi's relief, she decided to let it go, and moved on to the next student. Out of habit, Yugi looked back to where Yami was sitting. He was surprised to see the teenager suddenly turn his head away to stare down at the surface of his desk.

Yugi blinked. Had Yami been looking in his direction? Once again, his thoughts were cut off by the teacher's monotone voice, and he turned reluctantly to look up at the front of the class and at least try to catch some of the lesson.

He didn't have much luck, though. He was on the verge of falling asleep through most of math, and history was even worse. In the last ten minutes of the history class, however, he just barely caught that they were going to start working on reports that would be due in two weeks. Yugi fought down a groan. He hated long projects like that. They always required work outside of school, and that was kind of hard for him.

He had just laid his head back down to sleep for the last few minutes of the class when the teacher said that they would be working with partners. Yugi's eyes shot open. Partners? After school? That couldn't happen, nobody could come over to his house!

Besides, who would want to be his partner? Most of the kids in the class either made fun of or completely ignored Yugi, and those that did talk to him were just trying to be polite.

"…and, I have already assigned you partners for this project." the teacher continued. There was a wave of groans throughout the classroom as the teacher cleared her throat and began reading off names.

Yugi listened intently and prayed silently that he would be with someone that would be at least semi-civil to him.

"Yami and Yugi," the teacher read, then continued with the list. Yugi's eyes widened considerably, and he forced himself not to look over at the crimson-eyed boy right at that moment.

"You will each choose your topics from something we have studied this semester. You will have time in class, but I advise you to first of all to spend that time wisely and to work on this project outside of school."

The bell rang at that point, and Yugi was out of the room like a shot. He was trying to hide his horrendously red face, and trying to figure out if he had heard right or not. Yami was going to be his partner on a school project for two weeks. This would either be his dream come true or his worst nightmare.

* * *

At the end of the last class of the day, Yugi stayed behind as he screwed up his courage to actually say something to Yami. Thankfully, Yami came over first, so Yugi was saved from having to be the first to say something.

"Hey," he said softly in a voice that Yugi had rarely heard.

"Um, hey," Yugi replied, trying desperately to think of something more intelligent to say.

"So, um, do you have a topic that you wanna do, or something?"

The topic of their project had completely slipped Yugi's mind, so he said the first thing that came to mind, "Um, Egypt?"

Yami smiled, and Yugi nearly melted. "Okay, that sounds cool. I like Egypt, it's interesting. So, you wanna come over to my apartment after school tomorrow?"

Yugi took a moment to process what that wonderfully deep, sexy voice was saying, then nodded.

"Sure, that'll work."

"Okay, then, I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Yami then turned and left the classroom as Yugi frantically tried to undo the knot that his tongue had suddenly become. It didn't matter that they had just talked about a school project, but he had actually talked to Yami! Yugi had an extra bounce in his step as he walked home that afternoon.

His happiness was cut a bit short as he got home, though. He opened the door, and immediately was roughly grabbed and pushed to the floor, books and papers spilling out of his bag onto the floor.

The only thought that registered at that moment was that his uncle wasn't supposed to be home yet, but his answer came as his half-drunk uncle slurred, "You runt, m' boss almos' fired me today 'cause I was late, and you're gonna pay for it!"

Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of Yugi's lungs as his uncle's foot connected sharply with his side. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to regain his breath as he endured the beating. After ten straight minutes of getting kicked and hit with no chance to even stand up, Yugi's uncle stumbled out the door, calling over his shoulder that dinner had better be ready when he got back.

Yugi painfully pulled himself to his feet, gathered the scattered contents of his backpack, and then hastily threw together a meal for his uncle. When he heard his uncle come back in about an hour later, he grabbed some of the leftover tofu from a few nights ago and ran upstairs. He listened intently from his room as his uncle lumbered into the kitchen, noisily ate what Yugi had prepared, then went into the living room and flopped onto the couch.

After a few minutes, Yugi could hear snoring, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Chewing on the cold tofu as he sat on his bed, he reminded himself that tomorrow after school he would be going to see Yami. All he had to do was make sure that he got home before five thirty, and his uncle wouldn't know the difference.

He wadded up the tin foil that the tofu had been wrapped in and, after throwing it in the trash, curled up under the covers. He didn't cry that night, because he knew that tomorrow would be just a little different than every other tomorrow had been.

A/N: I'm so mean to poor Yugi. Oh, well, it's part of the plot, and it'll get better later. Please review!


	3. First Day

A/N: Okay, nothing incredibly exciting in this chapter, just a bunch of plot development. Bit of fluffy stuff, though. Maybe. Sort of. Not really. Or maybe I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about! Oh, heck, on to the next chapter.

Update 7/31/06: Just as a note, major changes have been made to Yami's background. I originally had him living with a "mother" that I made up, but for some reason it didn't quite fit his character. Thus, the story has been rewritten.

Come Save Me

Chapter 3

Yugi woke up incredibly sore and with a terrible headache. The memories of the previous night flooding back only made his head hurt worse. The small boy crawled out of bed and slowly dressed, then crept downstairs. He was relieved to find that his uncle had already gone to work by that time, and Yugi limped to school as he tried to remember if he had gotten any homework the day before or not.

Yugi tried his best to hide his limp as he slipped into class and sat down at his desk. He winced as he sat down. His sides hurt from where his uncle had kicked him, and it was painful to breathe. There was an enormous bruise on the side of his right knee where his uncle's heel had come down hard, and that was the cause of the limp. Automatically, Yugi turned to glance at his secret obsession, only to see that Yami was looking back at him. Their eyes locked for all of three seconds, and then Yugi turned away with a blush as the teacher began to speak.

Yugi found himself more and more unable to keep his eyes off the taller, sexier mirror image of himself as the day went on. When the last bell had finally rung to end the school day, Yugi waited until all the other kids had left, then got up and went slowly up to the door where Yami was waiting for him. The crimson-eyed boy frowned.

"Are you okay? You've been limping all day."

Yugi looked up in surprise. No one else in the entire school even noticed his presence, let alone that he had somehow developed a limp overnight.

"Um, I-I just hit my knee on, uh, the side of a table," Yugi said, hoping that his lie was convincing enough. Yami looked dubious for a moment as Yugi tried to keep himself from squirming under the scrutinizing blood-colored gaze, then he seemed to accept Yugi's explanation.

Yugi was so flustered that he didn't realize he'd forgotten something until they were outside the school and Yami said, "Where's your history book? Weren't you going to bring that with you?" Yugi froze for a moment, then remembered it was back in the classroom they had just left. He slapped himself mentally. /You're looking like an idiot/ he told himself.

"I think I left it in the room… um, I'll be right back!" Yugi turned around and dashed back into the school, trying to ignore the pain that immediately shot up his leg in protest to the movement. He skidded around a corner, almost tripped over his own feet as his knee protested once again, and made a beeline for the classroom. He didn't want to make Yami wait. Once his history book was safely in his book bag, Yugi turned to go back down the hall.

Unfortunately, Yugi didn't get very far from the classroom as someone grabbed him from behind, clapping a hand over his mouth. Yugi's mind froze momentarily, then he began to kick and struggle as the person dragged him out a side door from the school. Yugi was slammed up against a wall and he looked up into the eyes of one of the numerous school bullies that liked to use the small boy for a punching bag.

The bigger student, whose name Yugi couldn't recall right at the moment, grinned a yellow-toothed grin down at the smaller boy, then said, "You forgot to pay up today, shrimp. Now, where's that lunch money?" Yugi found that his mouth wasn't quite working, and he couldn't reply. "Wrong answer!"

Yugi felt the wind knocked out of him the bully's fist connected with his stomach. As Yugi doubled over, gasping, he noticed a figure not much taller than himself behind the bully. Yugi processed that the boy looked slightly like Yami.

The bully turned to see another student almost a whole foot shorter than himself standing there with his hands in his pockets. The bully recognized Yami almost instantly, and was trying to decide whether to take on Yami or to back down from a student who was rumored to be extremely dangerous.

"You want somethin'?" the bully asked, drawing himself up to his full height to try and make himself look as menacing as possible.

Yami just stared coolly back at him, then took a few steps forward. The bully tensed, but Yami just stepped right past the larger student over to Yugi. He helped the smaller boy up.

"You okay, Yugi?"

The boy nodded, and said faintly, "Yeah, I think I'm okay." He was slightly unnerved by Yami's completely calm attitude towards the burly student that was staring at Yami with a growing anger.

Hard crimson eyes were suddenly trained on the bully, and he involuntarily backed up a step. Yami moved to make a step forward, and the bully backed up two more steps. The crimson-eyed boy smirked.

"You got a problem, chicken shit?" Yami asked suddenly, letting a strong hint of anger into his voice. The bully jumped at the question, and shook his head after a moment.

"Then scram," Yami said in a low, deadly voice. Yugi watched in amazement as the bully did exactly that, tripping over rocks and knocking over random students as he ran.

Yami sighed, almost in relief, and said, "Well, that's taken care of." He smiled at Yugi's bewildered expression, then said, "Shall we go?"

Walking towards Yami's apartment, Yugi wasn't sure if he should thank Yami or ask him if he was insane. Yugi was still constantly looking behind him nervously to make sure they weren't being followed. He tried to tell himself many times that he was just being paranoid, but he couldn't help it.

"There's no one following us, you know," Yami's voice broke in to Yugi's thoughts. Yugi looked up in surprise, then nodded meekly.

"I do need to thank you, though," Yugi said, gathering up the courage to actually say something.

Yami chuckled softly. "Well, you're welcome. I wasn't quite sure that it was going to work, though. If he had actually decided to try and fight me, I wouldn't have won. I just managed to psyche him out."

Yugi let a shy smile play across his lips as he said, "I'll have to remember that one."

Looking around, Yugi noticed that they were in a part of the city that he had never been to before. It was filled with several apartment complexes with names like "Rolling River Hills" and "Shady Lakeside Village", despite the fact that there was no sign of a river or a lake. The area wasn't exactly a rich neighborhood, but it was much nicer than the slummy downtown neighborhood where Yugi lived.

"Wow…" Yugi murmured as he followed Yami up towards a complex with a large sign stating "Welcome to Mountain Crest". Yugi wasn't sure what mountains the name referred to, but the grounds were orderly and well-kempt. There were a few enormous trees around the buildings, and so Yugi's footsteps crunched on dried leaves as he followed Yami towards one of the buildings.

They walked up three flights of stairs until they finally came to apartment 209. Yami unlocked the door and led Yugi inside.

"You can set your stuff down anywhere," he said, dumping his own backpack on a nearby chair and going into the apartment's tiny kitchen. Yugi put his own backpack on the couch and looked around the apartment. It wasn't very big; the main room that he was currently in was probably the biggest in the apartment. There were a couple of chairs, a couch and a desk with a computer sitting on it. Yugi peered down a hallway that he figured led to the bedrooms. But, he only saw one bedroom and one bathroom down the hall. Yami didn't live here by himself, did he?

"Do you want a soda?" Yami asked, making Yugi jump slightly.

"Um… sure."

Yami came out of the kitchen, handed Yugi a soda and sat down at his desk, turning his computer on as he did so.

"So, where do you want to start?" Yami asked.

"Well…" Yugi said. "I suppose we could do the report in three sections: focus on the Old Kingdom first, then the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom."

Yami blinked. "You already know quite a bit about this, don't you?"

Yugi blushed and Yami chuckled. "Don't be embarrassed; the more you already know, the quicker we'll get the project done."

Yugi smiled and, unable to hold his curiosity back any longer, said, "Yami? Do you live here by yourself?"

Yami looked at Yugi for a moment then nodded. "Yes, I live here by myself."

Yugi was about to ask how, but Yami answered that for him. "I work at a restaurant downtown. The pay's not bad and this apartment isn't too expensive, so I get along just fine."

Yugi just nodded. Yami's answer had only made more questions pop into his head. Was this why Yami had been held back a year in school? And where were his parents? Were they dead, or did he just not live with them?

Instead, Yugi asked, "When do you work?"

"Almost every night, usually after six o'clock. I work most Saturdays, too."

No wonder he looked so tired at school. "Don't you ever get a day off?"

Yami shrugged. "Well, they aren't open on Sundays. So I get at least one day off."

Yugi just nodded and, pushing the rest of his questions out of his mind, opened his history book to the section on ancient Egypt.

A/N: Sheesh, another long chapter. It's been busy around here, and my muse is being a bit of an ass, so this took a while to get done. But, I have triumphed! Yeah, something like that. Please review, and I'll get the next chapter up faster, I promise!


	4. Questions, Lunchtime, and One Confused Y...

A/N: I'm not dead! Yay! Well, that could be an overstatement, as my grandparents arrived on Thanksgiving and are staying until Christmas. Although they're fun to do stuff with, they tend to try to send you on a guilt trip without much tact if you don't spend enough time doing jigsaw puzzles with them. Oh, well. This chapter feels kind of choppy to me, but I felt that I needed to get in some interaction time between Yugi and Yami before I move on to the really fluffy stuff. Now, on to Chapter 4!

Come Save Me

Chapter 4

"Did you know that Hatshepsut was the first woman to have ruling power in the ancient world?" Yugi asked as he skimmed through his history book. He had been reading off various "did-you-knows" for the past twenty minutes as he scribbled down a few notes while Yami clicked through a search about Egypt on his computer.

"Mmm," was the only response Yugi got, as Yami was concentrating on the screen in front of him. Yugi had to keep himself from giggling. He thought himself the luckiest kid on Earth at the moment; he was in Yami's apartment sitting on Yami's couch and was able to stare at the gorgeous boy for as long as he wanted.

It didn't seem possible for someone this incredibly hot to be in the same grade as Yugi. Thus, his mind was brought back to all the rumors he had heard about Yami getting held back. He had heard that Yami was nineteen, but he wasn't really sure.

Yugi bit his lip, wondering if he should ask the question or not. It did seem a trifle rude to him, but the curiosity was beginning to make him fidget. Well, it wouldn't be as intrusive as asking Yami what had happened to his parents, would it? He finally sighed, deciding there was no other way to find out, and sat up.

"Um, Yami?"

Bright crimson eyes looked over from the computer screen to stare into brilliant lavender.

"Yes?"

"Um, I was wondering, 'cause I didn't know and I wasn't sure, exactly how old are you?"

Yugi immediately blushed after asking the question, chiding himself for asking such a stupid question. But Yami just smiled.

"I'm seventeen, just like most juniors in high school. You heard the rumors, didn't you?"

Yugi just nodded as his blush deepened. He was about to say he was sorry for asking such a stupid question when Yami's laugh stopped his nervous rambling. He was absolutely mesmerized by that rich, vibrant laugh, and the irresistibly drool-worthy appearance that it gave the crimson-eyed boy.

"If you want to know where all those rumors come from, there was a big fight by my school in the eighth grade before I moved here. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and everyone in the vicinity got suspended. Somebody must've said something to someone at our high school about me being in that fight, and well, there you go."

Yugi found himself immensely relieved that all the rumors about Yami being a hot-headed bully weren't true, and he looked back down at his textbook.

"Did you know that the first person to make an incision on the pharaoh's body during the mummification process would have rocks thrown at them for defiling the pharaoh?"

----------------

Yugi sighed, laying his head down on the table. He watched other groups of kids at other tables eat together, talking or helping each other with homework. Yugi couldn't truthfully say that he wasn't jealous, especially of the "eating" part. He hadn't expected his uncle to actually be up before him that morning, and Yugi had dashed the front door as quickly as possible as soon as he realized that his uncle was awake and in the kitchen. Thus, he hadn't been able to make his own lunch, and also had no money to buy a school lunch.

The violet-eyed boy jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he spun around, almost falling off his seat. Yugi was half-expecting some bully to be there, though they usually didn't bother him at lunch, but instead Yami was looking down at him with a lunch tray in his hands.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Yugi just numbly shook his head, and Yami sat down next to him. The taller boy surveyed Yugi for a moment, then asked, "Where's your lunch? Aren't you going to eat?"

Yugi lay his head down on the table again before he replied, "Apparently not. I didn't have time to make my own lunch, and I don't have any money to buy one."

His stomach growled loudly again, and Yugi groaned as he buried his face in his arms, which were serving as a makeshift pillow on the table. He looked up when he felt Yami tap him on the shoulder, and saw that Yami had pushed his tray over towards him.

"You like French fries, right?"

A smile played across Yugi's lips as he picked up one of the French fries. "If I didn't before, I do now."

Being friends with Yami was turning out to be better than Yugi could have ever imagined. He might actually have to thank that old, droning teacher for pairing them together on the project. Yugi's mind froze as something suddenly occurred to him. What happened when the project was over? Would everything go back to the way it was?

The thought made Yugi unintentionally look over at his history partner, who had been watching Yugi as they both ate. Yami smiled slightly, and Yugi smiled back. If things did change back after the project, Yugi decided, then he had better enjoy this while he could.

And enjoy it he did. Not only did they meet after school, but they ended up eating lunch together every day from then on, and sat next to each other in class. Nothing seemed to change otherwise; the rest of the student body hardly noticed either of the boys in the first place, and this was no different. If some bully or snoopy gossip did get a bit too close, though, Yami would just glare and they would scurry off.

It was after a week of such activities that Yami began to notice something odd. The first time it happened was when Yugi had leaned over to click on something on the computer Yami was sitting at. Yugi's arm had brushed his just slightly, and Yami had to suppress a shiver at the contact.

He started to notice that whenever Yugi was close to him or made contact with him in any way, a warm tingling sensation worked its way up his spine. It felt wonderful, but it also confused him at the same time. His mind kept jumping to wild conclusions, and he kept telling himself that he did like Yugi but not in that way.

That just ended up confusing Yami even more, because when he got down to it as he lay on his bed around 10:30 at night staring at his ceiling, he had to admit that the boy was quite attractive. Pale, petal-soft skin, a crown of crimson and black hair, jagged blonde bangs that adorned his head like a halo, bright and shimmering lavender eyes, sweet, full lips…

"Wait a minute!" Yami said out loud, sitting up on his bed. If he was thinking about Yugi in that way, then did he like Yugi that way? The crimson-eyed boy flopped back down on his bed with a sigh, trying to reason with himself. It didn't work. All he could think about was the beautiful mental image he kept of Yugi, and, deciding that he would think more on it in the morning, fell asleep.

A/N: The plot thickens! Not really… Anyways, once again, thanks to all the people who reviewed, it's one of my greater sources of inspiration. Hopefully I'll be able to get in some more work on this fic and my other Ryou/Bakura fic, although things are just going to keep speeding up in school until Christmas vacation. Blecch, I still have to do my history paper… Please review!


	5. Words for You to Cry To

A/N: Yay, update! I'm trying as hard as I can to get work done on this fic, because I think I'll be finishing it up before I start to do more on The Love of an Angel. I'm also thinking of doing a little one-shot Christmas fic, but I'm not sure which pairing I should do it for. I'm thinking Yugi and Yami, or Ryou and Bakura. Maybe Jou and Seto, I haven't done much with them. So, what do ya'll think? Anyways, on to the next chapter!

Come Save Me

Chapter 5

Yami had to say that this was the first time in years that he could call himself happy. The small boy was so fun to be with, it just banished all the loneliness and depression from his mind. Yugi had an air of sweetness and innocence that he himself didn't seem to notice, which made him all the more adorable.

Currently, Yami was watching Yugi frown cutely as he read through one of the math problems in his book. Yugi bit his lip as he thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up suddenly as he realized what the answer was. Yami thought himself fortunate to be able to watch the smaller boy like this. He didn't exactly make much progress on his own homework, but who cared about that anyway. It took Yami a moment to realize that Yugi was staring back at him.

"Are you okay, Yami?" Desperately trying to hide a blush, Yami stammered out a reply.

"I-I'm fine. Why?"

"Because you've been staring off into space for the past twenty minutes instead of doing your homework. Is something wrong?"

"N-no, nothing's wrong!" Yami said a bit too quickly. "What'd you get for number three?" he went on, trying to cover the awkward moment.

Once their math was completed, they were both pondering over what to write for their English class. They were doing a poetry unit, and each student was supposed to write a free-form poem. Neither of them knew what to write about.

"Do you have any ideas?" Yugi asked tiredly.

"No. How about you?"

"Nope."

Yami sat staring at the wall silently for a few moments. Then, his pencil slowly traced a few words across the top of his paper. He stared at the words for a minute or so, then began writing furiously as if the words might escape him before he got them down on paper.

Yugi sighed, wishing that he could come up with an idea as quickly as that. He tapped his pencil on his notebook idly, waiting for some kind of inspiration. The inspiration he wanted didn't come.

It was only then that he remembered something he had started writing a few months ago. It had been his only way to blow off some steam at the time, and was still unfinished. Flipping back to the first few pages of his notebook, Yugi skimmed the words that were in semi-poem form. Yugi stared at the sloppily written words, wondering if it was really a good idea to keep writing on it. He eventually decided that he didn't have anything else to go on, and began to write where he had left off.

The two boys finished their poems at almost the same time, Yami watching as Yugi wrote the last line down on his paper. Yugi looked up at Yami, then down at his paper, then back at Yami.

"You first," the two boys said simultaneously.

Yugi grinned shyly, feeling rather self-conscious about what he'd written. He looked down at the words on his paper, then looked back up at Yami.

"You first," he repeated. Yami stuck out his tongue at Yugi playfully, but inside was feeling slightly panicked. He knew exactly what he had written about in his poem, and it was rather obvious, so he was worried about what kind of a reaction he would get from Yugi. Despite his worries, Yami picked up his paper, took a deep breath, and began to read the scribbled words.

I've been watching

And I can see you

With tears running down your face

I've been listening

And I can hear you

Calling out to the stars

No one seems to see you

No one seems to hear you

Except me

I've been watching

Only I can see you

Sitting in the dark

I've been listening

Only I can hear you

Crying in the silence

I want to wipe away your tears

I want to answer your call

So let me come save you, please

Yami nearly choked on a few of the words, as he was feeling exactly what he was reading. He managed to finish, though, and dared to look up to see Yugi's reaction. His jaw dropped slightly as he saw that Yugi was staring down at his own lap with tears running down his cheeks. The smaller boy sniffled, then covered his face with his hands as a strangled sob escaped his lips.

"Yugi? Yugi, why are you crying?" Yami got up from his place at the computer desk and sat down beside Yugi on the couch. He gently touched the boy's face. Yugi jerked a bit at the contact, then shook his head.

"I-I don't know, I just… I don't know…" Yugi hugged his knees to his chest and curled up into a ball, trying to hide his tear-streaked face. Yami tentatively put an arm around Yugi's shaking shoulders, and Yugi in turn leaned in against Yami. Soon, Yami had his arms wrapped around Yugi and the lavender-eyed boy was sobbing into Yami's chest.

Rubbing Yugi's back soothingly, Yami ran his other hand through Yugi's surprisingly soft hair. He frowned, thinking about what this kind of reaction to his poem might mean. Yami had suspected something ever since he had seen Yugi come into class limping or with a bruise on his face every other day, but now his suspicions were even stronger. Crimson eyes narrowed as anger built up against the one that would hurt such an angel as Yugi.

The small boy's sobs finally quieted, and they both sat in a comfortable silence, neither wanting to move or break the silence. Yami was starting to think just how good it felt to hold Yugi in his arms. His smaller look-alike seemed to fit in his embrace perfectly, like they were two matching puzzle pieces. He smiled at the analogy; they had discovered that one of their common interests was games and puzzles.

He sighed, not wanting to end this moment he had with Yugi, but deciding that he had to ask Yugi what was wrong. He felt the small boy shift in his arms momentarily, then heard something to the effect of a small squeak.

"It's already 4:50!" Yugi half-shouted, having shifted around to glance at the clock, and he jumped up off the couch to begin gathering up his notebook and pencils.

"Yugi, wha-" Yami started, confused by Yugi's panicked state.

"I'm sorry, Yami, but I have to be home by five, so I'll meet you again tomorrow after school, okay?" Yugi said in a rush as he stuffed everything into his book bag and zipped it up. He was out the apartment door and down the stairs before Yami could even react, and Yami got to the door just in time to see Yugi dashing away from the building.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Yami!" he called, then took off down the street.

Yami just stared after the boy, wondering what could make him hurry so much. Yami hadn't even gotten the chance to offer to walk Yugi home. In fact, he hadn't even been to Yugi's house. All of their meetings for the history project and other homework had occurred at Yami's apartment. Frowning, his suspicions growing more solid by the minute, Yami closed the front door against the cold wind.

He was shutting off his computer and putting his notebook back into his bag when he realized that he hadn't gotten to see what Yugi had written.

* * *

Yugi glanced in through the door, checking for any sign of his uncle. He didn't see anyone in the dim house, and carefully crept inside, intent on going straight up to his room and staying there until the next morning. He was halfway to the stairs when he was grabbed from behind and pinned against a wall.

"Where d' y' think yer goin'?" a sickeningly familiar voice asked. Yugi could smell alcohol heavy on his uncle's breath, a smell that was almost never absent from his uncle or their house.

"I-I was going up to m-my room," Yugi stuttered, answering his uncle's question. Yugi's uncle just pushed him harder against the wall, and Yugi winced as he felt his arms about to be crushed against the peeling wallpaper.

"You'll never get home late again, y' understand? You do, and yer sleepin' outside." The big, half-drunk man threw Yugi down onto the floor, and stumbled into the living room where he flopped onto the couch. Yugi lay staring down at the dirty carpet, then scrambled to his feet and ran upstairs.

Yugi tossed his book bag on the floor and kicked off his shoes, then curled up in his small bed. He sat staring at the wall, feeling scared and very alone, until the sun had set and his room was dark. He suddenly noticed that the room around him seemed to be shaking slightly. The violet-eyed boy frowned, his not entirely coherent mind wondering what could cause his entire room to shake. It dawned upon him a few moments later that it wasn't the room that was shaking; it was him.

The small boy laid down on the bed, shivering from the poorly-heated room he was in. He was alone, and he was scared, and right now there was no one around to protect him.

A/N: I'm actually rather pleased with the way that chapter came out. Once again, it's not very long, but none of my chapters are very long, anyways. The poem is mine, just so you know. It was the only thing that really slowed this chapter up, because I couldn't think of anything to write for that poem. Hopefully I'll get to work on the next chapter and have it up by this coming weekend. And if ya'll wouldn't mind, I'd like some comments and/or suggestions on the Christmas fic. I need some ideas! Oh, and I was also thinking of a fic to start on after Christmas. I hope I don't get ridiculed too much for it… Um, a YamixYugi Titanic-based fic? Anyways, please review!


	6. I Want to Save You

A/N: Gosh, I feel loved! So many reviews! Yay for me! Okay, enough of that. So far, I've gotten two votes for a Seto/Jou Christmas fic and one vote for a Ryou/Bakura Christmas fic. I've also gotten two "yes"s on my Titanic fic. So now, on to Chapter 6!

Come Save Me

Chapter 6

Yami glared from his desk at the innocent white wall beside him. He was not very happy. The crimson-eyed boy hated not knowing what to do and he hated being confused, and that was exactly his dilemma at that very moment.

Yugi running out of Yami's apartment the night before had worried Yami the entire night, and the next morning hadn't eased his worries a single bit. The limp that Yugi had seemed to finally be rid of a few days ago had come back, and the poorly-covered bruise on his jaw had made Yami's heart twist into a knot. Yami hadn't been sure if he should ask Yugi about it or not; he was very sure that all of his suspicions of Yugi being abused were correct, but what if he was wrong? He couldn't shake that feeling, and he also couldn't get rid of the hope that it was all in his mind somehow and that the bright angel was just fine.

/Oh, if only that were true. I hate to see him cry/

Sighing, Yami closed his eyes, not feeling like glaring at the wall anymore. The teacher was talking somewhere at the front of the class, but he just tuned the droning voice out. What if he did ask Yugi about the bruises he constantly got and the limps he seemed to develop on a regular basis? Would Yugi lie to him like he had the first day they had been working on their project together?

Yami had been asking himself these questions the entire day, and he still didn't have any answers. If anything, he had even more questions than he had first started with. Opening his eyes to see that annoying white wall staring back at him, Yami stole a small glance over at Yugi. The smaller boy was nearly asleep over his notebook, half-heartedly trying to pay attention to the teacher but failing miserably.

/He's kind of cute when he's sleepy…/

For once, Yami was too tired of thinking to reprimand himself for such a thought. He'd been letting little things like that slip through his mind all day, and was finally getting sick of trying to keep a leash on them. It obviously wasn't working.

The last bell rang so suddenly that Yami jumped halfway out of his seat. Most of the class was already gone by the time he had stuffed everything into his backpack and was standing at the classroom door waiting for Yugi. The smaller boy seemed reluctant to meet Yami's eyes as they walked together down the hallway, and Yami couldn't think of anything to say, so they walked in silence. It wasn't a comfortable silence, but seemed stifling and unnatural. Yami finally decided to break it.

"I'll meet you outside, Yugi. I just need to get something from my locker." Yugi just nodded in response, and kept walking towards the door. Yami watched him for a moment, then turned around to go back to his locker. He hadn't really needed anything in particular, but needed an excuse to get his thoughts together.

After slamming his locker shut, Yami walked slowly back down the hallway with a book he didn't even know the title of in his hand. He passed the long rows of lockers and several classrooms, then suddenly stopped in mid-stride. Taking a few steps back, Yami peered into the classroom he had just gone by.

It was his and Yugi's English classroom, and the teacher appeared to be gone for the moment. On the teacher's desk, however, was a folder clearly marked "Poetry Unit" with several papers inside of it. Yami bit his lip for a second, then threw caution to the wind and stepped into the classroom to rifle through the folder. He came across a paper that had "Mutou Yugi" written at the top of it in neat script, and began to read.

Fake smiles and empty glances

Hiding something in an empty heart

My only salvation has left me

In the midst of December night

I still don't understand

Why you left so quickly

But I know that you left me alone

Alone, in the dark,

On that December night

There's no one here but me

No one to see me

No one to hear me

No one to come save me

From the life that is now mine

Please, can someone see me?

Can someone hear me?

Please, come save me

Yami's eyes widened visibly as he read. It was almost a parallel to his own poem, and he once again felt a compelling need to answer the cry for help that Yugi was sending. An overwhelming desire to protect the boy from everything and anything that would ever come near him with a harmful intent spread through every nerve of his being. It was a feeling that he could barely control anymore, a feeling that he didn't understand yet knew was important anyways.

His brow creased into a frown as he reread the neat lines. Yami wondered who the people that left Yugi alone were, and had they died or did they just abandon Yugi? Yami smacked his forehead. Like he had said earlier, more and more questions.

The crimson-eyed boy jumped as he heard voices in the hallway, and he hurriedly closed the folder and set it back on the desk in some semblance of order. He poked his head out of the door to see if there was anyone there, then slipped out of the classroom and down the hall to meet Yugi outside.

The two boys walked to Yami's apartment in silence, Yugi still seeming uncomfortable after his sudden departure the day before. Yami didn't have the courage to try and ask about it, and, just as before, couldn't think of anything else to talk about. Instead, he pulled his coat around himself against the cold winter wind.

The sullen mood hadn't lifted at all when they got to Yami's apartment. Yugi simply sat down on the couch and opened his physics book, burying his nose in it without so much as a glance at Yami. Yami glanced at his own backpack. They both had physics homework, but they didn't have anything else to work on and their history project was nearly done and not due until next week.

Looking up, Yami's gaze wandered to the window and fell on an apartment across the street. A woman and two children were putting garlands and Christmas lights up around their own window, despite the fact that it was barely December. He imagined that there was Christmas music playing inside and that they had a tree they were going to decorate as well.

Yami watched them for a moment longer, then looked over at Yugi. He wanted desperately to cheer the boy up, and they didn't have much in the way of homework…

Yami plopped down next to Yugi on the couch, making Yugi jump and look up in surprise.

"Yugi, I need help with something," Yami said.

"Um… okay. With what?"

"Well, as you can see, it's December, but I don't have any Christmas decorations."

Yugi just stared at Yami blankly.

"So… I need you to come to the store with me so we can buy some, and then I need you to help me decorate." Yami said all this with a silly grin on his face.

"Uh… okay, but what about our homework?"

"Oh, we can finish that afterwards. Do you want to or not?"

Yugi hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Sure."

* * *

Yugi hummed along to the Christmas music playing on the radio as he straightened a star on the small plastic tree that was now sitting in the corner of Yami's apartment. He smiled to himself; it had been so long since he had gotten to do anything for Christmas. Deliberately pushing thoughts of his uncle out of his mind, Yugi kneeled down and plugged in the tree lights. The small tree lit up with little red and green lights.

Yugi turned around, about to tell Yami to look at the tree, only to see that Yami had gotten tangled up in a garland that he had been trying to hang around the entrance to the kitchen. Yami looked back at Yugi helplessly.

"Help?" he finally said.

Yugi giggled and helped to untangle Yami from the green decoration. They hung the garland and looked around the apartment with satisfaction. The tree was sitting in the corner, lights twinkling brightly, there was a wreath on the front door, and there were lights and garlands hung around the window.

Looking over at Yami, Yugi saw that his smile had become rather sad.

"What's wrong, Yami?" Yugi asked.

Yami sighed. "Oh, nothing. Just remembering things, that's all."

Yugi sat down on the couch. "Remembering what?"

Yami sat down next to Yugi. There was silence for a moment, then he said, "I was remembering the Christmas celebration we used to have at the orphanage. One of the caretakers would have everyone sing some Christmas songs on Christmas Eve, then read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Then we'd all go to bed, and when we woke up in the morning there would be one present for each of us under the tree. When I was older I learned that the caretakers bought the gifts for us using money out of their own pockets because there wasn't any money in the orphanage's budget to spare for gifts."

"That was very kind of them," Yugi said softly, though he was still stuck on the fact that Yami had grown up in an orphanage. Unable to stifle his curiosity, Yugi said, "What happened to your parents?"

Yami's eyes became sad. "I don't know. Nobody at the orphanage knew, either. Apparently I was found abandoned and, since there was no way of finding my parents, I was sent to the orphanage."

"Then why… why do you live by yourself? I thought they kept children at the orphanages until they turned eighteen."

Yami looked away. "Well… technically, yes. My situation turned out a bit differently."

"How's that?"

"I ran away," Yami said softly. "I ran away when I was fifteen and came here. I got a job and managed to enroll myself in school. I lied about my age to get this apartment."

"Why did you run away?"

Yami shrugged. "I was tired of living at the orphanage. I had some dream at one point of going off and finding my parents, but that's going to have to wait until I get out of school. Heck, I wouldn't even be in school right now if I hadn't promised one of the caretakers there that I'd at least graduate from high school."

Yami looked over at Yugi to see that he was staring down at his hands looking quite depressed. "Now, Yugi, you don't have to be sad for me. Things just happened the way that they happened."

Yugi looked up and smiled slightly. "I guess I should tell you about myself now that you've told me everything."

"Only if you want to," Yami said, though secretly he wanted Yugi to tell him, to see if there was something, anything that would confirm or reject his suspicions.

"Well, my parents died in a car crash when I was young. It was… during December, actually… and now I live with my uncle."

Suddenly, something clicked in Yami's mind. The people mentioned in the poem that left Yugi alone were his parents, and it also explained the reference to December! It all made complete and perfect sense.

Yugi looked around at all of the decorations. "And he doesn't exactly celebrate Christmas," he added, his voice soft and sad.

The last part of the puzzle snapped into place in Yami's mind. Yami finally understood. The bruises, the limping, the cuts, and all of Yugi's sadness; it was Yugi's abusive uncle. It had always seemed so obvious that Yugi was having problems at home, and Yami had always thought it was a drunk father. But no, it was his uncle. Everything fit.

"Uh, Yami, I'd better be going. It's almost five." Yugi picked up his backpack from where he had left it, and sat down on the couch to put his shoes back on. Yami decided that he had to say something, considering the revelation he had just made.

"Hey Yugi, maybe we should go over to your house tomorrow to work on our project and our homework. I haven't been over to your place yet."

Yami looked over at Yugi, and saw just what he expected. Yugi had looked up with wide, almost fearful eyes at the mention of going over to his house.

"N-no!" he said a bit too loudly. "Uh, no, I don't think that would be a good idea," he said more quietly, trying to keep his composure.

Yami decided to see how much information he could get. "Why not?"

"M-my uncle doesn't like other people over very much," Yugi said quickly, then his eyes widened even more as he seemed to realize that he had made a mistake. "And, um, I don't even have a computer or anything, so I just don't think it's a good idea…"

Yami kneeled down in front of Yugi, locking the bright lavender orbs with his own crimson.

"Yugi, if there's something bad going on, you can tell me," he said gently, true compassion showing in his eyes. Yugi attempted a smile.

"No, there's nothing wrong. Everything's okay, really," he said entirely unconvincingly. Yami's unwavering gaze kept boring into Yugi's very core, a feeling that both excited and terrified the smaller boy.

"Yugi, if something is really wrong, you need to tell someone. I'll try to help you in every way that I can, but I can't do anything until you tell me what's going on first."

Yami silently and desperately pleaded that Yugi would take this chance to break free from his uncle. He could see pained confusion in Yugi's eyes as he tried to decide what to do and what to say. Yugi finally had the chance to be saved, the chance that he had wanted so badly, but now that it was right in front of him, did he have the courage to take it?

Yami's heart sank as Yugi looked up at him with a false smile on his face that didn't carry to his eyes. "It's okay, Yami. Everything's fine." The smaller boy stood up and pulled his jacket on, then slung his book bag onto his shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, and walked out the door. Yami watched as Yugi walked down the steps, hugging himself against the frigid December wind. Crimson eyes closed to hide the pain-filled depths. Yami wanted so bad to help Yugi; it was an intense, almost burning want, the likes of which he had never experienced before in his life. But how could he do anything if Yugi wouldn't even admit to him what was going on? Something would have to fall through eventually, but Yami didn't want to think about the possible consequences of it. Yugi's uncle might go too far, and even if his abusiveness was exposed, it might be too late for Yugi.

Yami opened his eyes wondering what he was supposed to do. He could see that Yugi was already at the end of the street and, finally beginning to feel the bitter cold, Yami closed the door.

He slumped down on the couch, utterly disheartened. He glanced out the window at the apartment across the street. The lights were blinking cheerily in the window and he could see people moving about in the apartment.

Yami closed his eyes again and let his head fall back against the wall. What was he supposed to do? Should he interfere even if Yugi wouldn't ask for help? Or should he wait until Yugi did ask for help and risk it being too late?

But wait… Yugi already had asked for help. The poem that Yugi had written had been pleading for someone to see him, to hear him, to come save him from his loneliness and abuse.

It was only at that moment that Yami noticed a history book lying on the couch where Yugi had put his book bag. He stared at the book for a moment, then rummaged around in his desk drawers looking for the school address book.

A/N: Gosh, that seems like a long chapter. I'm currently trying to figure out what to do with the rest of this story, but thankfully school will be out for Christmas break soon so I'll have some time to work on it. Anyways, please review, and tell me what you think about the Christmas fic and the YamixYugi Titanic story! I want feedback!

P.S. I get to see the Return of the King tomorrow! I am so stoked!


	7. Please Come Save Me

A/N: I have survived my finals! I LIVE! Okay, that's enough of that. Now that I finally started my Christmas break, I get to update like crazy. So far I have four votes for a Ryou/Bakura fic and two votes for a Seto/Jou fic. My decision will be announced at the end of this chapter, and hopefully I'll get it finished and up this week. Now, on to the reviewers!

Come Save Me

Chapter 7

Yami turned the corner, checking the slip of paper in his hand to make sure that he had the right street. He couldn't believe that Yugi lived in such a run-down neighborhood. His apartment wasn't made for the rich and famous, but it was certainly more inviting than this dump. He pulled his coat tighter around himself. It was a very, very cold night. The clouds above him were threatening snow as he walked down the sidewalk.

Yami looked up as he reached his destination and came to a dead stop. Huddled on the doorstep of the first house on the street was Yugi, shivering violently and rocking back and forth slightly with his arms wrapped around himself. Dark bruises were all over his face, marring the soft, pale skin. His eyes seemed a bit glazed as he stared down at the concrete he was sitting on, and every few moments a choked sob escaped his lips.

Yami took a moment to process the entire picture, then rushed over to Yugi. The smaller boy looked up with wide, surprised eyes. "Y-Yami, what are you-"

Yami started to speak at the exact same time, saying, "Yugi, why are you-" they both stopped, then a noise from inside the door next to Yugi caused the boy to shrink away from it.

Yami's frown deepened as he saw the smaller boy's reaction. "Yugi, what's going on?" Yugi looked down at the sidewalk, trying to control his shivering without much success. He bit his lip, seeming ashamed, then said quietly through chattering teeth, "I-It's m-my uncle. He g-got mad at m-me because I g-got home t-too late, and he locked m-me out."

Yami's eyes widened. Yugi didn't deserve this, his mind screamed, and he began to see red for a fleeting moment as violent thoughts about Yugi's uncle ran through his mind. But right now, that wasn't what he needed to be thinking about. Yugi had been outside in the biting cold for far too long.

Yami didn't have any time to say or do anything, however, as the door swung open and a man three heads taller than Yami staggered out. Yami could smell the alcohol from six feet away, but could have told the man was drunk just from the way he swayed back and forth as he walked.

"What d' y' think yer doin'?" he said, waving a beer bottle menacingly at Yami. The crimson-eyed boy backed up a step, watching the man he assumed to be Yugi's uncle carefully. Before either of them could do anything, however, Yugi managed to pull himself to his feet and grabbed his uncle's arm as he tried to distract his attention from Yami.

"Don't hurt him! He didn't do anything!" he cried, but his uncle turned and struck Yugi in the face so hard that he fell to the sidewalk.

The big man turned back to Yami, still staggering drunkenly. He raised his fist suddenly and lurched forward, but wasn't fast enough to catch Yami off guard. The teenager dodged the wild punch, and his own fist connected squarely with the drunk man's nose. Yugi's uncle stumbled backwards until he hit the wall of the house, then sank to the ground. A moment later, he was flat on his back, snoring like some kind of freight train.

Yami rubbed his hand tenderly as he eyed Yugi's uncle warily. That man had a very hard head, Yami noted to himself. His attention was brought back to the present as a small whimper reached his ears.

Yugi was forcing himself up into a sitting position on the sidewalk, still shivering, and wincing at every other movement he made. Yami immediately pulled off his coat and wrapped it around the half-frozen boy. Yugi gave the taller boy a grateful smile through chattering teeth, and carefully tried to stand. He had barely taken a step forward when he swayed and began to fall. Yami caught him, then gently picked him up in his arms.

The smaller boy snuggled up against Yami, and the crimson-eyed teenager could feel Yugi's entire body shaking against his own. He needed to get Yugi inside, and fast. Moving as quickly as he could without jostling Yugi too much, Yami hurried past Yugi's still-snoring uncle and down the street. It had taken Yami twenty minutes of walking to get to the house, which wasn't too far, but it wasn't too close, either.

Yami had walked for about ten minutes when Yugi looked up at his taller look alike and said in a drowsy voice, "W-where are we g-going?"

"To my place," Yami answered. "You can stay the night with me."

Yugi's eyes showed traces of panic. "But, m-my uncle…"

Yami smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. Your uncle doesn't even know who I am, let alone where my apartment is. There's nothing for you to worry about."

Yugi smiled back slightly, seeming to relax a bit. "Thank you, Yami…" he said softly, and snuggled up against Yami's warm chest.

"You're welcome," Yami replied in a barely-audible whisper, his eyes softening and his heart melting as Yugi smiled at him.

Yugi was half-asleep and still half-frozen by the time they reached Yami's apartment, and Yami was shivering himself from the absence of his coat. Yami somehow managed to open the door with Yugi still in his arms, and closed it with his foot. He carried the smaller boy into the bedroom, pulled Yugi's shoes off, and wrapped him up in several thick blankets.

The smaller boy was still shivering violently, hugging himself with his arms and curling up into a ball within the blankets. Yami's heart twisted itself into a knot at the sight, and he sat himself on the bed next to Yugi, wrapping his arms around the violet-eyed boy. Yugi leaned into Yami's warm embrace as the taller boy rubbed his back tenderly, trying to warm Yugi up.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" Yami asked as Yugi's shivering began to subside. Yugi nodded sleepily, but, as Yami got up to leave, Yugi made an attempt to sit up.

"Don't leave!" he cried. Yami stopped where he was. Yugi looked away, feeling rather ashamed of his selfishness, but instead Yami picked up Yugi and took him, blankets and all, out of the bedroom and set him down on the couch so that Yugi could see him while Yami made the hot chocolate. Yugi smiled and curled up under the blankets as Yami went into the kitchen. The Christmas lights on the tree and window were still on, giving the room a soft, colorful glow.

"Here you go," Yami said a few moments later, handing Yugi one of the mugs of hot chocolate. He sat down next to Yugi, pulling a blanket over himself, and they sat sipping their hot chocolate in silence.

"Yami?" Yugi said quietly after a while.

"Yes?"

"I… I'm sorry that I… lied to you. I never should've…."

Yami heard Yugi's voice become thick with grief and he put his arm around Yugi. "Shh… it's all right. Don't worry about that right now."

Yugi tried to protest, but Yami shushed him again. "It doesn't matter right now, okay? All that matters now is that you're safe. Everything else can wait until later, all right?"

Yugi smiled gratefully, leaning against Yami's warm body as he took another sip of his hot chocolate.

After a while, some color began returning to Yugi's cheeks, though some of it was hidden under the black bruises that had formed on Yugi's face. Yugi finished off his hot chocolate and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. Yami set their mugs down on the table.

"You need rest," Yami said. Yugi just nodded, and Yami picked Yugi up yet again and took him back into the bedroom. He laid him down on the bed as gently as he could, then searched around in the closet for some extra blankets, planning to sleep on the couch.

"Yami?" Yugi asked tentatively. Yami turned around.

"Yes?"

"Could you…" Yugi glanced involuntarily at the spot on the bed next to him, "Could you… stay with me?" Yami watched where Yugi's gaze went, and hesitated for a moment. He suddenly found that there was no reason he could think of to not stay with Yugi, and also found that he wanted to. Their collective body heat would help warm Yugi up, anyways.

"All right." Yami kicked off his shoes and, not bothering to change, crawled into bed next to Yugi. The smaller boy immediately snuggled up against Yami, seeking warmth and comfort. Yami smiled down at the boy, then reached over to turn out the light. He wrapped his arms around Yugi, feeling the boy shift around to try and find a comfortable position. It was obvious that he was in pain, and when the sleepy violet eyes met his own crimson Yami could see traces of that pain, but there was also gratefulness and a weary happiness.

Yugi's violet eyes slowly fell closed, and his rhythmic breathing soon filled Yami's ears. Yami felt his own eyelids begin to droop, and gave in to the warm embraces of sleep and the beautiful boy next to him.

A/N: Ah, yummy fluff… Okay, since I said I would, I have come to a decision between the two pairings that were voted for: Seto/Jounouchi and Ryou/Bakura. I'm doing both! Um, yeah, I'm terrible at making decisions. Since I came up with ideas for both Ryou/Bakura and Seto/Jou, I decided to do each of them. Ryou/Bakura got the most votes, and that fic will be dedicated to Rowenna MacLeod, Celeste Rose, and Seven Days. Seto/Jou got votes from DarkOpalDragon and Digimagic, who I could never turn down, so that fic will be dedicated to them. With that decided, I need to go get to work! Oh, yeah, please review!


	8. Don't Cry, My Love

A/N: No, I am not dead! Yet… Meh, I got lazy over Christmas break, and then school cracked down so hard it made my head spin. That's what I get for taking Algebra 2 and Chemistry at the same time… But anyways, the important thing is that I got off my lazy butt and decided to update! I hope ya'll enjoy it, and now, on to the reviewers!

Come Save Me

Chapter 8

Yami slowly opened his crimson eyes, and was greeted with the familiar sight of his own bedroom. Pale morning light was peeking through the curtains, and a quick look at the clock on his wall told him it was almost seven in the morning. He frowned, trying to think of whether it was a school day or not. Ah, yes, it was Saturday. Such a wonderful day of the week.

With that revelation made, Yami closed his eyes again to go back to sleep. However, he suddenly recalled the rest of the events of the previous evening. His eyes snapped open, and he quickly rolled over to see Yugi sitting up on the bed next to him, violet eyes watching him with a smile.

"Finally awake?" he asked playfully. Yami just shook his head.

"No," he answered, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He looked up at Yugi, still feeling half-asleep. "How long have you been awake?"

Yugi shrugged. "A little over two hours, I think."

Yami frowned. "Can't sleep?"

"Well, no…" Yugi bit his lip. "I just had this bad dream, and I couldn't get back to sleep afterwards…"

Yugi toyed with the hem of the blankets. He felt like such a burden to Yami, despite the fact that falling asleep next to his dream crush was one of the greatest things he could have ever wished for. But even with that comfort, Yugi still felt that Yami would have been better off if they had never been assigned to that project together. Yami wouldn't have to be troubled with problems that weren't his own. Yugi sighed, the familiar feeling of being unwanted filling his heart.

Even worse than the returning depression was the fact that his uncle's face and the painful beatings were still filtering into his dreams, even in such a safe, comfortable place as Yami's home. And even though he was safe here for the moment, Yugi knew that he wouldn't be able to stay here forever, no matter how much he wished it. But the only other place he could go was back to his uncle, and that frightened him more than anything else.

The smaller boy sniffled, feeling the familiar sting of tears building up in his eyes. "What am I going to do now, Yami?" he asked in a voice thick with hopelessness. "I can't just run away from him. Even if I did, he'd find me eventually. And I don't have anywhere else to go. I don't have any other living relatives besides him."

Yugi felt the salty droplets finally escape his eyes and begin to roll down his cheeks. He sniffed again, half-heartedly wiping away some of the tears. "And… and he's going to be really mad when he finds me again… I don't want him to find me, but I don't know what to do…" Yugi's voice broke, and he found that he couldn't continue as despair began to eat away at him.

Yami, not completely sure what they were going to do about Yugi's uncle, either, simply pulled the smaller boy into his embrace and whispered comforting words to him. Yugi began to relax, and his sobs gradually subsided. He still seemed exhausted from the previous evening, and all the emotional strain he was under simply sapped away what energy he did have. Yami pulled away slightly to look into Yugi's eyes.

"It'll be all right," he said as sincerely as he could. "We'll figure out a way to get you away from your uncle, I promise. What he's doing is wrong, and you don't deserve it."

Yugi slowly looked up at Yami with tears in his eyes. "You promise?" he asked softly. Yami nodded, suddenly feeling fiercely protective of Yugi.

"And you'll… you'll stay with me, right?" There was a half-hopeful look in his eyes, as well as a despairing fear.

"Yes, Yugi, of course I will," Yami said intensely, hugging Yugi even tighter. "I promise you that if I have anything to say about it that man will never come within a hundred feet of you ever again."

A smile tugged at Yugi's lips. "That's quite a promise," he said quietly, yet he was secretly enjoying Yami's protectiveness.

"And I mean to keep it," Yami said seriously. "If he even looks in your direction I'll make sure he gets knocked clear back into the last decade."

Yami said this with so much intensity in his voice that the smaller boy had to smile. He felt so safe with Yami, and his uncle and all the beatings, the pain, all the fears and the nightmares just disappeared. It was all suddenly just a bad dream, and he had woken up to find himself safe and warm in the arms of his secret love.

With all of his fears suddenly banished, Yugi felt himself grow sleepy again. His eyelids began to feel heavy, and he fought back a yawn unsuccessfully. Yami chuckled, still wondering to himself why he wasn't getting nervous and sweaty at being in such close proximity with the object of his affection.

"Sleepy?" he asked. Yugi just nodded in reply, and felt Yami lay both of them back down on the bed. Suddenly, Yugi winced; he had forgotten about the terribly painful bruise that stretched from the right side of his chest across his side to his back. It had gotten the brunt of his uncle's boot the night before. Yami was immediately concerned.

"Yugi? What's wrong?" His crimson eyes were wide with worry.

Yugi bit back a whimper; this had to be the worst beating he had ever received, and that was saying a lot. "It hurts…" he said softly, voice taut with pain. "It just hurts everywhere… Everything's all sore, especially my back and my side…"

Torn between storming out of the house and hunting down Yugi's bastard of an uncle or kissing Yugi's sweet, full lips to try and make the pain disappear, Yami tried to keep his mind in perspective. Suddenly, a proverbial light bulb came on. He gently pulled the covers over Yugi.

"I'll be right back. I think I have something that could help," he said, swinging his legs down off the bed and standing up. He went into the bathroom and dug around in the medicine cabinet for a while, finally procuring a green bottle full of liquid. Yami walked back into his own room, holding the green bottle triumphantly.

Yugi stared at the bottle for a moment, then looked up at Yami in confusion. "What is it?"

"It'll numb the bruises for a while and help them heal faster," Yami said. "It works well on sore muscles, too." Yugi nodded in comprehension.

There was a moment of complete silence, then Yami found himself saying, "You need to take off your shirt." Heat rose in his cheeks almost immediately. He hadn't just said that to the boy of his dreams, had he? Yugi just nodded once again, still seeming very sleepy, and unbuttoned his shirt.

Yami tried as hard as he could not to stare at the appalling number of bruises on Yugi's chest, arms, and back. There was hardly a spot anywhere that wasn't black, blue, or purple. Yugi bit his lip and looked down at his hands, seeming ashamed.

"Lay down on your stomach," Yami said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Yugi complied, wincing visibly as his sore muscles protested at the movement. Yami opened the bottle and poured some of the honey-colored liquid onto his hands. A sweet aroma immediately spread through the room.

Yugi forced himself not to jerk away when he felt Yami's hands touch his sore back, then let out a long, contented sigh as Yami began to rub his back tenderly. The soreness of the bruises began to ebb away, leaving a comfortable, warm, and somewhat intoxicated feel that spread through his every nerve. The small boy let out a soft moan as Yami rubbed away the ache of a particularly painful spot just beneath his shoulder.

After an amount of time that Yugi had lost track of, he vaguely heard Yami asking him to roll over onto his back. Yugi sighed unhappily; he didn't want to move from his comfortable position. Yami decided that he ought to help Yugi, seeing as it hurt so much for the smaller boy to move. He had just leaned down and reached out to pull Yugi over when Yugi abruptly rolled onto his back. Their faces were merely an inch apart quite suddenly.

Yugi could feel Yami's hot breath on his lips, and his sleep-clouded mind processed that he liked the feeling very much. He was never quite sure if it was the heady smell of the oil or the light-headed feeling it had given him that made him do what he did; the only important thing at the time was that he did it. Yugi leaned his head up ever-so-slightly toward Yami's, and Yami automatically did the same. They closed the distance between them, and their lips met gently.

It wasn't a very deep or passionate kiss, not even open-mouthed, but it conveyed all the feeling that it needed to. Affection whispered through their momentary link to each other, and then very slowly each of them pulled back.

Yami looked down at his smaller look alike, his face flushed and his heart thumping in his chest. His brain, which had ceased functioning for the past thirty seconds, suddenly jumpstarted and Yami realized exactly what he had just done.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry!" Yami stuttered, pulling himself back up into a sitting position. "I didn't mean… Well, what I mean is, I wasn't really thinking, and I, uh…"

/You idiot/ his mind was screaming at him. /You're going to hurt him, you're going to taint him/ Yami just stared down at Yugi for a few moments, aimless stuttered syllables spilling from his mouth as he tried to apologize for taking advantage of the smaller boy.

Yugi sat up slowly, trying to figure out what Yami was talking about. Usually it was him that was stumbling over words, not Yami. /I was the one that kissed him, right? He shouldn't be saying sorry for anything. He's the reason that I'm not outside freezing to death./

"Yami, what are you sorry for?" Yugi asked softly, stopping Yami's awkward apologies. "I was the one that kissed you. You don't have to be sorry for anything. I should be the one that's sorry…"

The smaller boy looked down at his lap, then heard Yami say, "But… I still kissed you back…"

Yugi dared to meet Yami's crimson orbs once again. "Is that a bad thing?" he asked, his voice the slightest whisper. Yami considered this for a moment. Did it have to be a bad thing? Yugi had kissed him first, after all. But, wait…

"Why?" he asked. Yugi looked confused for a moment.

"Why what?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

The smaller boy bit his lip. The secret crush he had been hiding from Yami was on the verge of coming out, and suddenly he found that his palms were sweaty and a nervous fear was pounding in his chest.

"B-Because… I.." Yugi started, then swallowed. "Because I…" Yugi looked into the depths of his secret love's eyes, and his mouth began working of it's own accord. "Because I love you. I have for a long time."

It was said. The weight on his mind was gone, only to replaced by something even heavier: Yami's reaction. Yugi avoided the crimson orbs that he loved so much, feeling the nervousness and the fear and the anxiety become much too heavy all at once. A tear slid down his face, followed by another, and another, and another.

A warm, gentle hand began to wipe them away, and Yugi looked up in surprise. Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi, looking down at him tenderly. Cupping Yugi's flushed cheek, Yami smiled slightly. "Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?" he asked softly. The violet-eyed boy just stared back, not knowing what to say.

"Because you are so very beautiful, and so wonderful and full of light," Yami whispered gently to the smaller boy. "And that's why I love you, Yugi."

Yugi felt soft lips on his own once again, and welcomed the kiss and the embrace as if they were the very air that he needed to breathe. Tears were still rolling down his cheeks as they broke the kiss.

"Shh, Yugi, don't cry…" Yami murmured, brushing some of the salty droplets away. Yugi tried to speak, but found that he couldn't. All he could do was look up into Yami's blood red eyes and try to comprehend that he was being loved back by the one person he loved and adored. Yami, staring into Yugi's bright violet eyes, simply understood, and no words at all were needed. All they needed at that moment was each other to hold, and the rest of the world disappeared.

A/N: Good golly goshburgers, that seems like a long chapter. For me, anyways. I'm sorry for no updating in, like, three weeks, but hopefully I'll be able to make up for it. I want to finish this fic up and start working on The Love of an Angel some more, and who knows what else after that. I've had a few other interesting ideas, so I might use one of those. But I'm rambling! Please review!


	9. It'll Be All Right

A/N: Well, folks, due to a pressing need to work on my other fics, the pain that chemistry currently is, and my lack of inspiration, this will be the last chapter. Sad, isn't it? I meant it to be longer, but my muse fizzled out right at the finish line. But I hope you enjoy it anyways; it took a while to get this one written because I ran out of ideas for the end. A big, fuzzy thank you to everyone that reviewed on this fic and encouraged me to update, because that is what makes me keep writing on a daily basis. Otherwise, I'm just lazy.

P.S. Okay, this won't actually be the original update that I intended for this last chapter. I read some reviews that I got after the first two days that the original chapter was posted, and most of them commented that it seemed too short or like there should be some more happening in there. So, I decided that I wasn't satisfied with this, and I went back and made a few changes. I'm happier with it now.

Come Save Me

Chapter 9

Yami woke up for the second time that morning, and glancing at his clock noted that it was nearly ten. He blinked at the semi-dark room around him, wanting to go back to sleep but knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to. He yawned, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and sat up slowly. It was only then that he noticed that there was a slender arm flung over his stomach.

Yugi was still asleep next to him, his features even more angelic in slumber. Yami smiled, stroking Yugi's soft, fair skin. He was truly beautiful in a way that Yami couldn't even begin to describe. Deciding not to wake Yugi, Yami carefully pulled the covers off of himself and began to slowly get out of bed.

However, his careful procedure did not quite go according to plan as he lost his balance and fell in a heap next to the bed. The next thing he knew he was flat on his back and Yugi was looking down at him over the edge of the bed, having been woken up by Yami's ungraceful fall.

"Are you all right?" Yugi asked, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

"Oh yeah. I'm great," Yami said, hoisting himself up off the floor. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Yugi smiled. "Much better."

"Ready for breakfast?" Yami asked. Yugi nodded enthusiastically and sat up despite the protests of his sore muscles. As they ate, Yami pondered what to do. The best solution, he figured, was to call the police. However, Yugi hadn't even been willing to tell Yami about his abuse; would he be willing to tell anyone at all? Well, he had to try…

"Yugi?" Yami said. Yugi looked up, recognizing the serious note in Yami's voice. "I think we both know that we need to get you away from your uncle. I also think that the best way to do that would be to call the police and tell them what's been happening."

Yugi's eyes widened very suddenly with fear. That struck a deep-set chord within him. The one most important thing was to never, never tell anyone about it. Yugi was sure that he wouldn't be able to move for a week if his uncle found out. Never tell anyone, never, never, never. His life would become even more of a hell if he did, and his uncle would be even angrier than usual.

/What about Yami? He knows…/

/That was an accident! Yami's not supposed to know, no one's supposed to know! He'll get angry that I told someone, and then he'll…/

Tender crimson made his thoughts stop quite suddenly. "Yugi," the familiar voice said softly, "I won't call the police without your permission, but if you tell someone about this, if you let me call the police, then he won't be able to hurt you anymore. They won't let him."

Gentle fingers touched Yugi's cheek, and the voice dropped to a whisper. "I won't let him."

Yugi bit his lip. Escape from his uncle had always seemed impossible, but now there was actually a chance that he could be free. And Yami had promised to protect him, hadn't he? Yami had become the savior that Yugi had always prayed for, the one that would come and save him.

Yugi nodded. "All right," he said.

Yami smiled and squeezed Yugi's hand. "It'll be all right, Yugi. I promise." And he went to the phone.

* * *

Two weeks later………

Yami lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He was tired, but he didn't feel like sleeping. There was too much in his mind for him to sleep. It had turned out that there was no need for them to worry so much about Yugi's uncle. About two hours after the two boys had gotten to Yami's house on that cold night, Yugi's uncle had woken up. He had been unstable and incoherent, and in a daze had walked out into the street right into the path of a passing car. He had been dead from the moment of impact.

Yugi had absolutely refused to go to the funeral, and Yami didn't blame him a single bit. Still, the smaller boy had been acting odd ever since he had heard about his uncle's death, and Yami hadn't been able to put his finger on what was bothering Yugi so much. He was quite sure that it wasn't his uncle being dead; Yami knew for a fact that Yugi had hated that man as passionately as the angelic boy could hate. The Yami wasn't quite sure of how to ask Yugi what was wrong, and so the matter had remained untouched.

Since Yugi didn't have anywhere else to go at the moment, he was staying with Yami. Thankfully, the police hadn't found out that Yami had lied about his age to get his apartment, and had agreed that Yami's apartment was the best place for Yugi to stay temporarily. Yami was much more worried about what would happen to Yugi, as the violet-eyed boy didn't have any living relatives now. Yami sighed; thinking about it more wasn't helping him get to sleep at all.

"Yami?"

The crimson-eyed teenager jumped slightly at the soft voice. He hadn't known that Yugi was still awake.

"Yes?" Yami said in reply, rolling over on to his side as he wondered why Yugi was still awake so late. Yugi had his back to Yami, and was curled up into a ball under the sheets.

"Do you think I'm bad?"

Yami blinked. Where on earth did this come from? "What are you talking about, Yugi?"

There was a small sniffle, then Yugi rolled over to face Yami suddenly. There were unshed tears glimmering in his eyes. "Do you think I'm bad for being happy that he's dead?"

Yami's eyes widened slightly. So this was what had been bothering Yugi all this time. The taller teenager immediately pulled Yugi into his embrace, stroking his hair.

"No, Yugi, no. That's not a bad thing; your uncle was bad, and now he's gone, and that's a good thing." Shy violet met tender crimson. Yami gave his smaller lookalike a half-smile. "Trust me, the world is a better place without him."

The tears began to escape Yugi's eyes. "Yes, but… I wished for him to be dead for so long, and isn't it bad to wish death on someone?" Yugi looked down, attempting to wipe some of the tears away. "Should I be happy about death?"

Yami firmly tilted Yugi's head up so that their eyes met again. "Yugi, I can't be completely sure, but from what I know about him that man never, ever did a thing while he was alive that made him deserving of life. You shouldn't feel bad about what happened to your uncle."

Yugi just sighed, letting a sad smile grace his features. "I suppose so…" he said softly, then snuggled against Yami's chest. "It sure is a lot better not having to worry about him," he said, then trailed off as he yawned. Yami smiled, kissed Yugi's forehead tenderly, and found that he was finally able to fall asleep.

* * *

Rather early the next morning, the doorbell ran. Yami rolled out of bed, quickly dressed himself and staggered to the door.

The old man standing outside was just barely as tall as Yami, which wasn't very tall, and he noted immediately that his eyes seemed like a combination of his and Yugi's eye color. The only difference was that these eyes had seen much more than both Yugi and Yami combined. The man gave a half-smile, then held out his wrinkled hand.

"Good morning, sir. My name is Sugoroku, and I believe you currently have a Yugi Mutou staying with you at the moment?"

Yami was immediately wary, as he had already had to chase off quite a few persistent reporters and journalists, but he was also rather curious. The man certainly did not seem dangerous, nor did he seem to be a reporter. The most he could do was ask a few questions. As he shook the man's hand, he said, "Yes, Yugi is staying here. May I ask how you know him?"

Sugoroku chuckled. "Well, I couldn't answer that, because I don't know him. I knew that I had a few distant relatives over here in Japan, and Mutou is one of the family names I've been looking for. I heard from some cousins a few days ago that one of their relatives and her husband passed away several years ago, but that their son was still staying with his uncle. Then, I saw a little report about the uncle's death in the news, and I must tell you that it has been a trial finding out where Yugi was staying. So secretive and suspicious people are these days!"

Now that Yami thought about it, there was a small bit of resemblance between Yugi and the old man that was standing in front of him.

"If you don't believe me, I can prove it. I've managed to trace my family tree a good ways around the world these past few weeks, and those cousins I told you about can verify that I'm related to them and that they're related to Yugi's mother."

Yami wasn't quite sure what to say; to trust or not to trust? He didn't have much time to think about it, though, as a voice from behind him said, "So, even though you're not, can I call you Grandpa?"

Yugi was standing behind Yami with one hand on the kitchen counter and tears in his eyes. There was nearly a tangible connection between Yugi and Sugoroku right from the moment they first looked at each other. It was the loving guardian that Yugi had been deprived of for so long, and it was the grandson that Sugoroku had never had.

"Yes," the old man said in answer to the teenager's question, a smile playing across his features. "I would like it very much if you would call me that."

* * *

Four months later………

Yami finally slid out of bed as Yugi called to him from the hallway for the third time for him to get up or they were going to be late for school. Yami stood up and began putting on his school uniform.

A lot had happened since last December, and a lot had changed. Yugi was now living with Sugoroku, the man that had been dubbed "Grandpa" to both Yugi and Yami, despite the fact that his relation to the violet-eyed teenager was quite a bit more complicated than that. And, Sugoroku had been so grateful to Yami for helping Yugi that he offered to let Yami stay with them. That way, Yami would be able to finish school without having to worry about supporting himself on his own. Yami had accepted and thanked him profusely. The old man owned a small shop just a few blocks away from their high school, which Yugi and Yami would help out sometimes after school.

Yami and Yugi had been on seven "official" dates so far and were the happiest that they could ever remember being. Yugi had been quite relieved to find that Sugoroku was accepting and even supportive of their relationship. Gossip circulated throughout their high school daily about the lookalike couple, but no one had ever dared to say anything to their face or give them trouble because of Yami's fearsome reputation.

But Yami's mind wasn't in the past as he traipsed downstairs for breakfast. He was thinking about how much fun they were going to have on their summer vacation, and how beautiful Yugi would look in summer clothes, with the sun lighting his features, and with his hair wet… Yami halted his thoughts as he spotted the object of his affection sitting at the kitchen table.

"Ready for that algebra test?" Yami asked teasingly, kissing Yugi chastely on the lips in greeting. Yugi rolled his eyes at the question.

"I wish," he said, then asked, "What possessed me to take that class, anyways?"

Yami thought for a moment. "Because you need it to graduate," he started, and Yugi stuck his tongue out at that, "and because we're in the class together."

Yugi smiled. "Ah, yes, that's the reason right there."

"Speaking of class, you two are going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Sugoroku said from the next room.

They scarfed down their breakfast, grabbed their stuff and headed out the door.

They walked to school holding hands and stealing glances at each other. Oh, and by the way, their project on Egypt got an A-. The minus was for it being slightly late due to circumstances that were to remain unmentioned, and for Yugi giggling in the middle of his sentences every time Yami looked at him.

The End

A/N: I need to write a fic with a sad ending one of these days. Oh, well, happy endings are still good. I don't think I'll ever really be happy with this chapter because I just ran out of motivation for this. I want to work on other stuff, so I decided that I might as well get this one done and out of the way. Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed, encouragement and constructive criticism are very much appreciated. This will be the… third chapter fic that I've finished! Well, okay, so Birthday Cake was only three chapters, but it still counts. Hopefully I'll get to work on The Love of an Angel now. Ja!

P.S. Since Yugi's uncle died, I've decided to resurrect him so he can be thrown to the reviewers. Enjoy!


End file.
